“IT SEEMS LIKE WE’VE KIND OF COME FULL

circle,” says Bono, assessing the current political climate. “We’re back there with a different cast of characters,” he adds, recalling the cultural uncertainty that shaped U2’s 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. Thirty years on, the context has changed slightly, but the same sense of insecurity has re-emerged. That is why, says Bono, the band are touring the album in question. A deeply personal record, The Joshua Tree is also a celebration of the great American ideal at its most open. That in itself could now be considered to be a political statement. Above all, The Joshua Tree reminds us that we should be ready for anything. And that music should still have the power to unite people and to reflect humanity at its best…